Nothing At All
by gothicrider
Summary: It had simply started with a few stares and it had always been a game. She knew that, he knew that. But how could you ignore that toe curling chemistry? It wasn't love. It was a quest to possess each other's souls.
1. Chapter 1

It's got to be her. It is freakish and unnerving and definitely alarming. But it is her. She had checked and rechecked.

Hermione Granger isn't easily perturbed but the last two weeks has got her thinking. She wasn't even sure when it had started. Only that she had started noticing it two weeks back. It started as simply nothing. A few covert glances here and there. A look, a blank stare or maybe a frown. It was nothing.

Hermione had never felt any sort of attraction towards Blaise Zabini. He was one of those fellows whom you notice instantly but never think much about. He had that quiet beauty about him that got people interested but that was where it ended.

So she of course noticed him. Again how could she not? He was always hanging out with Draco Jackass Malfoy and his pug of a girlfriend. She had noticed him ever since they started Hogwarts. But you never think much of Blaise. He is overall a nice fellow and as far as she knew is never mean to anyone. He is a good student and comes from a moderately liberal pureblood family. There is seriously nothing alarming about the guy.

He wasn't physically imposing either. Maybe a 5'8" or 5'9". Hermione herself was 5'7". But he had strong shoulders, a narrow waist and marvellous bone structure. She would like to stress on the bone structure. He has a face that can best be described as classical features with a hint of ruggedness. Yeah, Hermione is aware that it doesn't even make much sense. But there it was, nothing ever did.

And here he was again, both of them sitting in the Quidditch field religiously after class. She was always there with Ron and Harry and he was there with whichever friend he could find that day. He had a ton of friends and unlike all other Slytherins he made it a point to interact with all other houses. She liked that about him but it also made him unpredictable. He wasn't what you would normally expect of a Slytherin and that bothered her.

"...and then Dean said that David Harzinger is gonna bite the dust soon enough. I mean seriously, does that guy have no brains? Anyone who knows anything about Quidditch can see that Harzinger is a top class keeper. " Ron said. "What do you say Hermione? Even you must agree to _that_."

"Of course Ronald" Hermione answered looking up from her book. Unconsciously her eyes sought out Blaise. She wanted to see if he was watching her today. They had a weird routine. It almost ran hot and cold.

"Say Hermione, are you warming up to Quidditch?" Harry asked with a slight playfulness in his voice.

"Why do you say so?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"You have been hanging around the Quidditch field more in the last couple of weeks than you have in the rest of the year. It makes me wonder if it is the love of the game or something else."

Shit. Harry is much cleverer than he ever got the credit for. Ron's brain wouldn't even tread in that direction but Harry had the uncanny ability to understand that something was up although he couldn't exactly pinpoint what.

"HaHa. It's nothing like that Harry. I just wanted to sit outside in this nice weather. Even I don't like the dark, dank library all the time." Phew. Hermione snuck another look. He wasn't looking this way today. Suddenly she wasn't feeling too well.

"You know what, maybe we should leave. It's getting late anyway."

"Aww c'mon Hermione. It's only been an hour." Ron whined.

"Maybe tomorrow..." she started "You know what I will get going. You guys can sit here. I have to write a letter home anyway." Hermione packed up her books and got up. She felt depressed. On days like this she wondered if she had been reading the signs right. Chances are that she misinterpreted and built up the whole thing in her mind. It's not like she had much experience with boys. For all she knew maybe there is an ongoing joke about _her_ staring at him and he is just indulging her.

She could vividly imagine Blaise and Draco sitting in their common room and going "Dude Granger was looking at me again. Told you even that nun can't resist me" and Draco says "Here is your 100 galleons Blaise. You win."

Arrrgh.

Hermione and her imagination! As much as she would like to deny Hermione Granger was intrigued by Blaise for despite the shy demeanour that guy was more complex than all of Voldemort's twisted souls combined. She had looked into his eyes and ever since had been drawn like a moth to the flame.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: As much I would like to, I do not own anything in the universe of Harry Potter. The adorable Ms. Rowling does. However the plot is all mine.

So enjoy and leave a review. It will make my day.

...

Everybody knew Blaise. She had never noticed that before but these days wherever she turned there he was sitting with someone or another. He would look up and casually met her eyes. It was in that instant that Hermione would feel things that she had never before. For an inexperienced and utterly unromantic soul like her it felt like ants were running up and down her spine. Whatever it was, it was intense.

"God Granger, I know I am hot but do you really have to stare at me for so long?" drawled Draco Malfoy.

"I would really like to shove you down a hole and throw in a dynamite for good measure but I have a life and I had hoped so do you." Hermione replied nonchalantly. "Turns out even I make mistakes."

"Anthony, you know smoking is against the rules. I seriously don't care but keep it out of plain view. I don't want to deal with any fiasco." Hermione turned and spoke to the boy sitting next to Malfoy.

"Sure Hermione. Don't worry about it. We will just move the party to the grounds." Anthony said.

Hermione turned away. She wasn't sure where she was going but she knew she had to leave. That's what the normal course of action should be. You rebuke and you leave.

Hermione just walked into the nearest broom cupboard and stood there. She took a couple of deep breaths and covered her face with her hands. She needed to get a grip.

He was there with them and of course she was staring. That was how Malfoy got the opportunity to make the snide comment. Hermione would always make it a point to ignore Blaise whenever he was in proximity. Sometimes she would just ignore him for the heck of it. Sometimes she just didn't want to seem stalker-ish.

Getting involved with Slytherins is a bad idea and what they had was twisted. When she glanced at him today he was looking straight ahead. His hazel eyes looked grey-ish for some reason. Hermione almost wanted to cry in frustration. He was driving her to the edge without really doing anything.

Her mom insisted that it was just chemistry. Pure attraction.

If only it was that simple. Hermione knew she was a total nutcase. When her friends were hoping for a prince charming to rescue them she wanted to be the Desdemona to her Othello. Someone to live and die for - a romance that would burn right through her. For someone supposedly vanilla she was sure fucked up as hell.

She was so sure she would have never given Blaise a moment's thought had it not been his sudden interest in her. Damn him and his eyes.

Hermione needed a distraction. She could adopt a pet but that would probably die within a week. So she ultimately decided that the best thing she could do at the moment is adopt Ron. Well not literally, just make him her pet project while she cools off. Hermione was sure that she would be fine if she directed her attention elsewhere for the time being. Final exams were coming up so she had the perfect excuse.

So when Hermione went down for breakfast that morning she was determined to do a few things. She was going to set up her routine with Ron and Harry and avoid frequenting the places where Blaise hangs out. She needed to study for the NEWTS. For the first time in her life Hermione hadn't even started on her preparations. It wasn't like her but a certain boy had been wrecking havoc in her life. It was time she regained some control.

"Morning sunshines!" Hermione exclaimed while sitting down in the Great Hall. She kept her back to the Slytherin table although she saw that he was facing this way. He had looked at her today while she sat down. She had noted.

"Hermione, are you high?" Seamus, who was sitting beside Harry asked her.

"Shut up. I am simply in a good mood today." She proceeded to hug Ron and then piled on a ton of food on her plate. "Ron is going to start revising for the NEWTS with me from tonight."

"I am?" Ron asked her flabbergasted.

"Yes, you are and don't sound so alarmed. The exams are just six weeks away." Hermione replied while tucking in her food. "And you too Harry. There is no need to grin like a maniac."

"Don't worry, I am in. So Seamus where were we? "

"Yeah, so the party will be held this Saturday night. Goldstein said he won't be able to attend class the next day if it was held on Thursday. Personally I think that's the brightest thing he has come up with all year."

"What party are you talking about?" Hermione piped in.

"Well little darling, if you must know" Seamus, the obnoxious flirt, started with a wink "there will be a Slytherin party this weekend. One of the boys turns seventeen."

"Oh. Good for you."

Hermione knew which Slytherin boy turns seventeen this weekend. She has become a bloody stalker.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As much I would like to, I do not own anything in the universe of Harry Potter. The adorable Ms. Rowling does. However the plot is all mine.

The rest of the week went relatively normal. Hermione had attended her classes and spent the rest of the day studying in the library. She made sure that Ron and Harry were there with her every evening. They were good at keeping her occupied. Other than that she had avoided interacting with people in general and so far it had worked marvellously in her favour.

The books didn't remind her of Blaise in any way and that suited just fine. She was finally busy preparing for her NEWTS- something that she should have started months ago. But for the first time in two weeks she actually got some work done.

You see her basic strategy was "Out of sight, out of mind." In her case it had worked too well. She had of course seen Blaise around the school. For Merlin's sake they had Potions and Transfiguration with the Slytherins. To her utter misery she shared Arithmancy with him as well. But as decided she had simply not paid him any attention and by the fourth day found out that the intensity was ebbing away.

On Thursday when she was sitting in the library, waiting for Harry and Ron to arrive, she saw Blaise come into the library. This time she just spared him a customary glance and resumed her work. As always he chose a table that was in plain view but left in ten minutes time. He didn't return.

Hermione didn't get any work done that evening.

* * *

"I think you are acting like a maniac." Ginny said while sitting down next to Hermione in the Great Hall at breakfast. Hermione gave her a puzzled look. "You know with all the time you have been spending in the library, it's a wonder you haven't lost it yet."

"The exams are just about five weeks away. I really can't waste any more time and seriously neither can you." Hermione admonished.

Hermione and her batch had to lose a year in between due to the ongoing war, but now that the wizarding world is at peace it seemed natural that everyone resumed their education. The "lost batch of Hogwarts" got a second chance at graduating and thus there were two seventh year batches this year, sitting for the NEWTS.

"I don't plan to work Hermione. You know that."

"I still think you should reconsider that."

"Hermione...Let's not talk about that okay."

Hermione looked away. They have had this conversation too many times. Ginny and Harry were getting married in the fall. While Harry has been accepted into the Auror training program, Ginny has decided to stay at home. Hermione didn't think that there was anything wrong with that. Plus it is Harry so she wasn't worried about Ginny that way. But it didn't seem right to her. Hermione's Muggle upbringing dictated that women should pursue a career, no matter how wonderful their beau is.

"Anyway I hear that there was a wild party thrown by some Slytherin last night." Ginny said, changing the topic.

Hermione felt herself turning red. Damn it. She had been trying so hard to forget about Blaise all week.

"Yes. The boys were saying something."

"Huh, were they now? Wait, I will call Lavender. She will know." Ginny started calling out "Lavender! Come here. Gossip."

Hermione wanted to strangle Ginny. All her efforts are going to go down the drain.

"Morning girls. What's the occasion?" Lavender asked while sitting down beside Hermione. She was accompanied by Parvati who took up the seat next to Ginny.

"I heard that there was a wicked party down at the dungeons last night. Know any details?"

There you go, Hermione thought.

Lavender cocked an eyebrow. "You are really asking me that question?"

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Well to answer your question, yes I do know. Blaise turns 17 and for some reason he thought it would be nice to turn his birthday party into something that resembles a bachelor party. Drinks were flowing. From what I hear, Draco apparently got hold of some _ignis viriditas _as well."

"Shut up!" Ginny exclaimed, looking awed and appalled at the same time. "How did they get that?"

"Beats me."

"Why? What is _ignis viriditas_?" Hermione asked.

"It's a kind of drug. Illegal of course, damn expensive and mighty difficult to come across, but can give you a high like no other." Parvati explained. "And I think there was something like stripper/hooker service as well."

"That's it. I am going to kill Harry. To hell with the engagement!" Ginny started getting up but Parvati pulled her back.

"Calm down girl. It was just a few of the older Slytherin girls albeit the slutty ones. But that's the extent of hookers that got past the school boundaries. Personally I think that's enough."

"Oh yeah." The fact that no outsiders can come inside the school grounds without the headmistress's permission seemed to register in Ginny's head. So no Knockturn Alley prostitutes there.

Hermione was intrigued. Blaise just didn't seem like the kind of guy who would throw such a party. It simply didn't fit.

"I never thought Blaise is the wild type. He seems so quiet." Hermione asked cautiously.

" Blaise really is a nice guy, more mature than all the seventh year males combined." Parvati said with a smile that seemed to imply that she knew that first hand.

"But you never know with Blaise. I mean that guy can make missionary sex dangerously erotic. Don't you agree Ginny?" Lavender added with a wink.

Hermione was officially stunned. Not only did all three of them know Blaise, but knew him in a rather personal capacity. But the conversation came to an end there. The bell had rung and classes were about to start.

"I want details." Hermione whispered to Ginny rather menacingly and dashed off to class.

When Hermione entered Arithmancy, most of the students were already seated. Her usual seat was taken up by Connor Riley from Ravenclaw and the nearest vacant seat was the one just behind Blaise. She took that. As she sat down, Blaise looked back to see who it was. His eyes widened a little and he sat back straight. There was a small smile on his face. It was almost like he was blushing.

That can't be right, Hermione thought to herself. For a guy who seems to be have been involved with a variety of women, including all three of her friends, blushing is unnatural. Blaise, it seemed was full of contradictions.

By the time class was over Hermione had made up her mind. She wanted to get to know Blaise.

She had never pursued anyone before. She never even had a boyfriend before and the Viktor incident kind of sums up her whole dating experience. But that wasn't important. She just needed somebody to introduce them and then she could take it from there. She hoped.

Anything with Blaise will probably ruin her for life but she was willing to risk it. Hermione knew that if she didn't give Blaise a try she would probably regret that for the rest of her life. She needed to do this. He wasn't what he seemed and Hermione wanted the truth. She wasn't ready to let him go. Not yet.

By the time, lunch rolled around Hermione was impatient. She wanted to continue the conversation with Ginny. She had planned on getting hold of Lavender and Parvati as well but she couldn't find them anywhere in the Great Hall.

Ginny will have to do.

"Spill." Hermione said while sitting down beside Ginny.

"Spill what?" Ginny asked casually. Too casually.

Hermione gave her a look.

"And where are the boys?" It seemed that most of the seventh year Griffindor males were missing. The few that were there looked like they were going to drop dead.

"Hung over. Most of them are still knocked out including Harry and Ron. These came down for the food."

"I had class with Blaise. He seemed fine." Hermione said frowning.

"Blaise can handle it. He has been doing it for a while, hangs out with a bunch of artsy fellows when he is not at school. They do all sorts of things together."

"You still haven't told me when you two hooked up." Hermione noticed that Ginny displayed a similar kind of familiarity with Blaise as Parvati and Lavender had earlier that day. Hermione wanted to know how that felt.

"It wasn't a hook up. We had an affair. It was in my fifth year before I started seeing Harry. It was two weeks but Merlin it was intense."

"So what happened?" Hermione wanted to know more. Furthermore she was intrigued at Ginny's choice of words. Affair is the last word that comes to mind while describing teen flings. But yet it seemed like that is exactly what Ginny meant.

"I am not sure." Ginny said thoughtfully, "It was just over."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Once again I don't own Harry Potter. Just the plot.

Love it or hate it please, please, please leave a review! I really would like to know what you people think about the way the story is progressing. So if you are reading it please leave a review.

Enjoy!

BTW I complete 10 years of reading Harry Potter fanfiction this year. Isn't that something? :D

* * *

It seemed to Hermione that their story had come to a halt. The moment she decided to give Blaise a shot everything seemed to fall apart. Nothing she did seemed to work. On the contrary everything seemed to backfire. Hermione was getting desperate. No she was obsessed. As simple as that.

Hermione had tried to not-so-discreetly push her friends into introducing her to Blaise. It simply hadn't worked. Somehow none of her friends thought it was important enough. Either that or they thought she was being creepy. But whatever their ideas might be, the thing was that Hermione wasn't even a single step closer to Blaise.

She had tried talking to Harry and Ron, multiple times mind you, but didn't work.

"So Harry, I heard that you people really enjoyed the party last night?"

"Yeah, it was fun. But things were really wild. You wouldn't believe what a load of alcohol in one's system can do to loosen their tongue."

"What did they say?"

"Sorry. Can't tell. Bro-code."

"Huh. I never knew Blaise could throw such a crazy party. Makes me wanna meet him."

"You definitely should."

Another time Ron was talking to Harry about Quidditch which also involved Blaise in certain capacity and Hermione happened to be sitting there. It went like this...

"Blaise was saying that he could get me a meeting with Jamie Martin, you know the coach of the Chudley Cannons," Ron said, looking at Hermione. "It really will make the difference and with Leppar retiring next year, the keeper's spot is going to open up."

"Keep at it Ron. You just might get the job. Blaise really knows the right people so if anyone can help you here it's him." Harry supported Ron at his decision, although Molly and Arthur weren't very enthusiastic about it.

"You all really know Blaise well don't you? Maybe you should introduce us sometime soon. I mean school will be over in a month and all."

"Hmmm." That's all that Ron said in reply.

The next time around she decided to keep it to the point. She caught hold of Lavender one morning over breakfast.

"You know I always seem to hear about Blaise or see him around. Introduce him to me will you? It's getting weird."

"You don't need to meet him. He isn't the right sort." Elise who was sitting beside lavender interjected.

"Oh please, you never like anyone." Lavender stated.

"That's not true!"

"Really? Well remember that time when we went to..."

What else is a girl to do? She was one step away from looking desperate. So she decided to drop it all.

Life was getting more and more messed up for Hermione. If you have ever experienced an all encompassing crush, you might understand what she was going through. But then again crushes tend to be the step prior to love where you feel giddy when you think about the person and blush when you see him. When Hermione thought about Blaise she felt like she was being pulled into a dark hole. When she saw him she was on fire, it felt like she was being consumed. But sometimes she just wanted to lock him up in a room and be his worst nightmare. What she felt for Viktor was a crush. This definitely wasn't.

And then something happened. It was just two weeks before their finals were about to start, when she had completely given up about it, Hermione unexpectedly met Blaise. Later when Hermione thought about the timing of it all she couldn't help but think that the fates had something against her.

Hermione was sitting with Ginny near the lake. They were going through some Transfiguration notes that needed to be sorted out and revised. Ginny needed some last minute help and so they were to work on it that particular afternoon. Since it was spring and the weather was wonderful they decided to sit by the lake rather than in the library which was their usual spot.

"Blaise is here. You should meet him." Ginny suddenly said, more to herself than to Hermione. "Would you like to meet him Hermione?"

Hermione was caught off guard but still managed an "Okay." She saw that Blaise was sitting on a rock at a distance. He had a cigarette dangling from his lips and was looking at the lake. It was a rare sight to see Blaise alone.

"Perfect." Ginny beamed. She started waving at Blaise from there. To their surprise he spotted them right away and came over. Hermione supposed he might have known that they were sitting there all along.

"Hey Blaise."

"Hello Ginny. How have you been?"

Blaise spoke softly. There was a calmness in his voice that was unusual for a boy his age. Whether that was true or was one of Hermione's romantic whimsies one cannot be sure, but Hermione decided that if Blaise were to sing he would be a beautiful tenor. It was the first time that she heard his voice.

"Good. Great, in fact I got engaged and am getting married in the fall." Ginny replied with her warmest smile. Blaise looked at Hermione before shifting his attention to Ginny once again.

"To harry. I know. You couldn't have done better." Hermione was surprised to hear something like that come out of a Slytherin and curiously enough he seemed to mean every single word of that.

"I am glad you feel that way." Ginny was positively beaming. "So have you met Hermione?"

"No I haven't actually. Hi." Blaise turned to talk to Hermione. He had this tendency of looking straight into her eyes.

" Hello Blaise. I have heard a lot about you." Hermione extended her hand, flashing Blaise one of her super friendly smiles. He had a book in his hands, muggle writer Hermione noted. "Especially from Lavender and Parvati." She added with a playful tilt to her voice. She skipped out Ginny simply for the sake of not embarrassing her.

Blaise gave an awkward laugh and blushed a little, "It's nothing like that. They are nice girls..."

"Of course they are. So it was your birthday sometime back, wasn't it? I hear it was one heck of a party. Harry and Ron loved it."

"Thanks." Blaise blushed some more while smiling at her. "You don't turn seventeen every day. I wanted it to be a special one."

"Loved it!" Ginny snorted "They were wrecked the next day and the next; couldn't get up from bed even if their life depended on it. Really Blaise, you should know that not everyone can handle things in such high intensity."

"A lot of it was Draco's plan really. I don't do it all. You know that."

"Hmm. Sit down, will you?"

But Blaise declined the offer. " Um, I actually have to go. There is this thing. But I will see you around okay?" He said the last part while looking at Hermione. He tilted his head to the side and looked at Hermione for a few seconds. The way he looked negated the casual tone with which he had talked to her for so long. It was as if he was saying I want something from you, just haven't decided what. At that moment Hermione knew in her gut that she would give him whatever it was just to have the chance at ruining him back in return. But then he turned to Ginny, waved a goodbye and was gone.

"He is something, isn't he?" Ginny asked Hermione with a sigh and a smile on her lips.

"He has nice shoulders."

Hermione was sure that it was the stupidest thing she had said in all her life.

* * *

I know my chapters aren't very long. I am trying though... :/


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